Netanyahu calls popular protests in Middle East ‘medieval’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 26, 2012

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the popular Arab movements promoting change in the oppressive leadership structures in the Middle East represent medievalism.
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday, he said the recent demonstrations in the region were indicative of “medieval forces of radical Islam.”
“The medieval forces of radical Islam…seek supremacy over all Muslims…they want to extinguish freedom,” he was quoted as saying. “They want to end the modern world.”
The comments came amid ongoing popular protests in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Jordan in pursuit of equality and civil liberties.
Netanyahu also asserted that the Palestinians had to recognize the “one and only” Israel.
Earlier in the day, the acting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chief, Mahmoud Abbas addressed the General Assembly, condemning Israel’s “catastrophic” settlement expansion in the Tel Aviv-occupied West Bank and its campaign of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians.
"Developments over the past year have confirmed what we have persistently drawn attention to and warned of the catastrophic danger of the racist Israeli settlement of our country, Palestine," Abbas said.
He told the UN gathering that Israel’s aggressive and extremist policies simply stoke anger among Palestinians and were killing hopes for the resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
KA/HN